Three white men convicted of hate crime in attack at Houston bus stop

By James Pinkerton |
April 16, 2012
| Updated: April 16, 2012 10:24pm

Yondell Johnson, left, and local activist Quanell X address the media outside the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse after the four white men that were charged through Harris County with the misdemeanor assault of Johnson in August have now had their crimes moved to the federal court as a hate crime Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, in Houston. Johnson and Quanell X contend that the Harris County District Attorney's office should have made the charges a hate crime from the start. ( Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle )

A midnight attack in which four shirtless white men - three with white supremacist tattoos - cornered and beat a black man at a downtown bus stop was deemed a federal hate crime Monday by a jury that returned the first conviction of its kind in Houston.

Prosecutors dismissed charges last month against a fourth defendant, Joseph Staggs, 49, who testified against the other three.

The convictions carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The four men ran into each other on Houston streets and "bonded" over the white supremacist tattoos, prosecutors said. Removing their shirts, the four approached Johnson, a 29-year-old African-American, as he waited for a bus at Travis and McKinney late on Aug. 13. They asked him for the time before at least one of the men used a racial epithet.

The four men surrounded Johnson and punched and kicked him, despite his efforts to fight them off. During the trial in Houston's federal court, jurors saw part of the attack caught on city surveillance cameras.

After they were arrested, a Houston police officer heard McLaughlin and Cannon yell racial slurs at black officers who responded to the crime scene, according to court documents.

"We applaud the hard work of the FBI and Justice Department in investigating this hate crime and bringing the perpetrators to justice," said Martin B. Cominsky, southwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. "We are especially proud that federal officials were able to successfully use the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act. ADL led the effort to get the strong federal hate crime law passed so it could be used in cases like this."

Cannon's attorney, Gus Saper, denied his client is a racist and said he and other defense attorneys are considering appealing the convictions.

"I don't consider him a white supremacist. The testimony showed he is married to a Hispanic lady. He has biracial children, and his sister is married to an African-American," Saper said of Cannon, who is a welder from Lufkin. "One of his friends, who is African-American, testified in his behalf and also dated one of his sisters."

'Public message'

The federal hate crime law, passed in October 2009, gives the FBI authority to investigate violent crime, including violence directed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, as well as crimes committed because of gender, race, color, religion or national origin.

When the federal charges were filed in January, they were only third time the hate crime law had been used nationwide. With the verdict on Monday, 15 defendants have been convicted in a total of nine cases nationwide in which 34 defendants were charged, according to the Justice Department.

"We hope today's convictions send a powerful public message," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris, who heads the Houston office, adding the federal hate law "is a tool the FBI will use to aggressively investigate and prosecute hate crimes as felony offenses."

Johnson said that the four men came up to a bus stop shortly before midnight last August. He was waiting to catch the bus after spending the day visiting his 12-year-old daughter.

Pulled to ground

Johnson recalled one man asked him, "Hey, bro, you got the time?"

Johnson said he did not, and then heard a second man berate the first.

"Why are you calling a (N-word) a bro?" Johnson recalled.

Sensing he was going to be attacked, Johnson stood up and backed against a pole. The amateur boxer held off his assailants for about 10 minutes, but one of them grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him down. As one man held him, the other three stomped and kicked his face.

"I couldn't believe this was happening. I thought I was on my way to dying, especially when they got me on the ground," Johnson said.

Until the hate crime case was brought by federal authorities, the four men were facing misdemeanor assault charges in state court. Prosecutors had notified their defense attorneys they intended to upgrade the charges to hate crimes during their trials. But those charges were dismissed after the federal charges were filed.

The three were found guilty after a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt, who set sentencing for July 16.